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automatic transmission Archive
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![By 1953, Chrysler was starting to pay the price for not having a real automatic transmission. The two-speed PowerFlite became available for senior models late in the ’53 model year, […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/1953-Plymouth-Cranbrook-4SD-Sonora-Bronze-Basil-Classics-front-3q-with-banner.webp?resize=115%2C115&quality=70&ssl=1 "1953–1954 Plymouth Hy-Drive Transmission – What Plymouth Buyers Got Instead Of A Real Automatic")
1953–1954 Plymouth Hy-Drive Transmission – What Plymouth Buyers Got Instead Of A Real Automatic
Posted on August 31, 2025 | 30 CommentsBy 1953, Chrysler was starting to pay the price for not having a real automatic transmission. The two-speed PowerFlite became available for senior models late in the ’53 model year, […] -
![The 1964 model year was the last hurrah of the entry-level Cadillac Series 62, and the final year for the ’50s-vintage Controlled Coupling Hydra-Matic, an unusual four-speed automatic transmission with […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/1964-Cadillac-Series-62-2HT-Turino-Turquoise-Orlando-Classic-Cars-front-3q-w-coupling-inset.webp?resize=115%2C115&quality=70&ssl=1 "1964 Cadillac Series 62 – Last Year Of A Very Unusual GM Hydra-Matic Transmission With TWO Fluid Couplings")
1964 Cadillac Series 62 – Last Year Of A Very Unusual GM Hydra-Matic Transmission With TWO Fluid Couplings
Posted on August 19, 2025 | 15 CommentsThe 1964 model year was the last hurrah of the entry-level Cadillac Series 62, and the final year for the ’50s-vintage Controlled Coupling Hydra-Matic, an unusual four-speed automatic transmission with […] -
![Have you ever wondered why modern automatic transmissions all have shift patterns beginning “PRND”? It wasn’t always so — if you’ve driven older cars, you may have noticed that they […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2013-Toyota-Corolla-LE-automatic-shifter.webp?resize=115%2C115&quality=70&ssl=1 "From NDLR To PRNDL – How One Inventor’s Grudge Against GM Helped To Standardize Transmission Shift Patterns")
From NDLR To PRNDL – How One Inventor’s Grudge Against GM Helped To Standardize Transmission Shift Patterns
Posted on July 6, 2025 | 51 CommentsHave you ever wondered why modern automatic transmissions all have shift patterns beginning “PRND”? It wasn’t always so — if you’ve driven older cars, you may have noticed that they […] -
![What was the first gasoline-powered automobile with fully automatic transmission? It wasn’t built by GM (which hadn’t even been incorporated yet!), but by the Sturtevant Mill Company in Boston, about […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1907-Sturtevant-Automatic-Touring-Car-brochure-litho-front-3q.webp?resize=115%2C115&quality=70&ssl=1 "The World’s First Automatic Transmission – The 1904-1907 Sturtevant Automatic Automobile")
The World’s First Automatic Transmission – The 1904-1907 Sturtevant Automatic Automobile
Posted on July 2, 2025 | 11 CommentsWhat was the first gasoline-powered automobile with fully automatic transmission? It wasn’t built by GM (which hadn’t even been incorporated yet!), but by the Sturtevant Mill Company in Boston, about […] -
![Back in 1961, Mercedes-Benz belatedly introduced its first in-house automatic transmission, known by the prosaic designation K4A 025 and offered in the company’s new W112 Mercedes 300SE flagship sedan. […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1962-Mercedes-Benz-300SE-sedan-Bordeaux-Lutziger-Classic-Cars-front-3q-left.webp?resize=115%2C115&quality=70&ssl=1 "CC Tech: 1961 Mercedes-Benz K4A Automatic Transmission – “Mercedes Builds A Brain Box”")
CC Tech: 1961 Mercedes-Benz K4A Automatic Transmission – “Mercedes Builds A Brain Box”
Posted on May 2, 2025 | 16 CommentsBack in 1961, Mercedes-Benz belatedly introduced its first in-house automatic transmission, known by the prosaic designation K4A 025 and offered in the company’s new W112 Mercedes 300SE flagship sedan. […] -
![The auction listing for this attractive Tampico Red 1961 Buick Electra 225 convertible claims that it has a “column-shifted two-speed automatic transmission.” As you may already know if you’re […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/1961-Buick-Electra-225-convertible-RM-Sothebys-front-3q.webp?resize=115%2C115&quality=70&ssl=1 "CC Tech: Inside Buick’s Turbine Drive (Twin Turbine) Automatic Transmission")
CC Tech: Inside Buick’s Turbine Drive (Twin Turbine) Automatic Transmission
Posted on April 7, 2025 | 31 CommentsThe auction listing for this attractive Tampico Red 1961 Buick Electra 225 convertible claims that it has a “column-shifted two-speed automatic transmission.” As you may already know if you’re […] -
![Most people know that by the late 1950s, most U.S. cars offered automatic transmissions, and most American buyers preferred them, although the compacts and sporty car boom of the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1962_rambler_classic_img_5208-14865.webp?resize=115%2C115&quality=70&ssl=1 "Automotive History: Which U.S. Cars Of The 1960s Most Often Had Manual Transmission?")
Automotive History: Which U.S. Cars Of The 1960s Most Often Had Manual Transmission?
Posted on February 15, 2025 | 45 CommentsMost people know that by the late 1950s, most U.S. cars offered automatic transmissions, and most American buyers preferred them, although the compacts and sporty car boom of the […] -
![I previously talked about how the unusual 1961–1963 Buick Dual-Path Turbine Drive automatic went backwards. Here’s the rest of the story of this remarkable, short-lived transmission, including the question […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1961-Buick-Skylark-Dual-Path-Turbine-Drive-AACA-Forums.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "CC Tech: More on the Buick Dual-Path Turbine Drive Transmission – Asking “Why” As Well As “How”")
CC Tech: More on the Buick Dual-Path Turbine Drive Transmission – Asking “Why” As Well As “How”
Posted on December 23, 2024 | 18 CommentsI previously talked about how the unusual 1961–1963 Buick Dual-Path Turbine Drive automatic went backwards. Here’s the rest of the story of this remarkable, short-lived transmission, including the question […] -
![GM’s Y-body “senior compacts” — the Buick Special/Skylark, Oldsmobile F-85/Cutlass, and Pontiac Tempest/Le Mans — boasted many interesting engineering features, from their lightweight aluminum V-8 engines to the Tempest’s flexible […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/1961-Buick-Dual-Path-Turbine-Drive-cutaway.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "CC Tech: 1961–1963 Buick Dual-Path Turbine Drive Transmission – Forward Thinking About Going Backwards")
CC Tech: 1961–1963 Buick Dual-Path Turbine Drive Transmission – Forward Thinking About Going Backwards
Posted on December 7, 2024 | 23 CommentsGM’s Y-body “senior compacts” — the Buick Special/Skylark, Oldsmobile F-85/Cutlass, and Pontiac Tempest/Le Mans — boasted many interesting engineering features, from their lightweight aluminum V-8 engines to the Tempest’s flexible […] -
![While the illustration above might look a lot like Chevrolet’s ubiquitous aluminum Powerglide, it’s actually a completely different transmission: the Buick-built two-speed Super Turbine 300 automatic transmission, which went into […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Buick-Super-Turbine-300-automatic-transmission-640099-F05.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "CC Tech: The Buick Super Turbine 300 Automatic Transmission — Not a Powerglide")
CC Tech: The Buick Super Turbine 300 Automatic Transmission — Not a Powerglide
Posted on December 3, 2024 | 29 CommentsWhile the illustration above might look a lot like Chevrolet’s ubiquitous aluminum Powerglide, it’s actually a completely different transmission: the Buick-built two-speed Super Turbine 300 automatic transmission, which went into […] -
![Any feature about a pickup seems to be accompanied by comments lamenting the loss of basic pickups. Despite these perceptions, basic spec pickups do still exist although they have become […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2021-Silverado.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "Automotive History: Losing The Plot? The History Of The American Pickup Becoming More Civilized")
Automotive History: Losing The Plot? The History Of The American Pickup Becoming More Civilized
Posted on December 22, 2020 | 63 CommentsAny feature about a pickup seems to be accompanied by comments lamenting the loss of basic pickups. Despite these perceptions, basic spec pickups do still exist although they have become […]
